In this season of Building Better Developers with AI, hosts Rob Broadhead and Michael Meloche revisit a past topic: 'Transform Your Projects: The Ultimate Guide to Effective User Stories.' This episode offers a fresh perspective on how teams can achieve greater success by writing better user stories.

The hosts initially tackled this subject in an earlier season, but they return to it because the challenge remains timeless: poorly written user stories continue to derail software projects. This time, they dive deeper into lessons learned, customer-centric approaches, and frameworks that make user stories truly work.

Why Writing Better User Stories Still Matters

Rob opens with a familiar frustration: sitting in sprint planning and realizing the user stories don't make sense. Vague requirements create confusion, rework, and wasted effort.

A user story is not a specification—it's a promise for a conversation that builds shared understanding.

By writing better user stories, teams maintain focus on outcomes, rather than implementation. They deliver features that users actually need, instead of technical solutions that fall short.

The Philosophy of Writing Better User Stories

User stories should always:

Stay customer-centric by focusing on what the user wants, not the technical details.

Break down work into small, manageable chunks that improve agility and estimation.

Emphasize outcomes over implementation, avoiding the trap of data tables and CSS classes too early.

Rob illustrates this with the ATM example: "As a customer, I want to withdraw cash so that I can access money in my account." This keeps the story grounded in the user's experience.

The Anatomy of Writing Better User Stories

At the core of writing better user stories is a simple formula that makes requirements clear and human:

As a [user role]

I want [goal]

So that [reason]

This framework ensures that every story is tied directly to a user's perspective, their needs, and the value they'll receive.

However, strong stories extend beyond this sentence structure. Rob and Michael highlight two key frameworks that add depth and clarity:

The Three C's – Card, Conversation, and Confirmation, which explain how stories spark dialogue and define "done."

The INVEST Model – Independent, Negotiable, Valuable, Estimable, Small, and Testable- is a checklist that helps teams evaluate whether a story is ready to move forward.

Finally, one important reminder: each story should only have one meaning. If a story can be interpreted in multiple ways—or contains "if/then" scenarios—it should be split into smaller, more focused stories. This keeps the backlog clean and avoids confusion later in development.

The Three C's of Writing Better User Stories

1. Card

The card represents the user story itself. Traditionally, teams would write stories on index cards. Today, tools like Jira, Trello, or Asana take their place. The key is that the card is just a placeholder for a conversation, not the entire requirement. It captures the essence of the story but leaves room for discussion.

2. Conversation

The conversation is where the real value happens. Developers, product owners, and stakeholders discuss the story, ask clarifying questions, and uncover details that weren't written down. These discussions ensure that the team shares a common understanding of the user's needs. Without this step, the story risks being too vague or misinterpreted.

3. Confirmation

The confirmation defines how the team knows the story is complete. This typically takes the form of acceptance criteria or test cases. Confirmation transforms a story from an idea into a verifiable piece of functionality. It answers the critical question: What does "done" look like?

Card captures the idea. Conversation builds the understanding. Confirmation proves the work is complete.

The INVEST Model for Writing Better User Stories

The INVEST model is a simple but powerful checklist that helps ensure user stories are clear, practical, and actionable. Each letter represents a quality that a strong user story should have.

Independent

A good user story should stand on its own. That means it can be developed, tested, and delivered without being blocked by another story. Independence reduces dependencies and keeps projects moving smoothly.

Negotiable

User stories are not contracts carved in stone—they're open to discussion. Teams should be able to negotiate details, scope, and implementation during conversations. This flexibility encourages collaboration and prevents rigid requirements that may not fit real-world needs.

Valuable

If a story doesn't provide business or user value, it doesn't belong in the backlog. Every story should clearly tie back to outcomes that matter for the end-user or the organization. This keeps the team focused on delivering impact, not just features.

Estimable

A story should be clear enough that the team can estimate the effort to complete it. If it's too vague or too large, it can't be accurately sized. Estimable stories make sprint planning realistic and help track progress more effectively.

Small

Stories should be small enough to complete within a single iteration. Large stories, sometimes called "epics," should be broken down into smaller, more manageable pieces. Small stories are easier to understand, estimate, and test.

Testable

Finally, a user story must be testable. The team needs to know how to verify it's "done." This often takes the form of acceptance criteria or test cases, ensuring the functionality can be validated from the user's perspective.

The INVEST model keeps stories clear, focused, and actionable. If a story fails any of these tests, refine it before moving forward.

Lessons From the Trenches: Writing Better User Stories in Practice

Michael highlights a recurring issue: customers often don't fully understand their "why." They may use outdated paper trails, redundant processes, or even misuse tools they already own.

Sometimes developers must reverse-engineer requirements by observing workflows, asking why at each step, and uncovering hidden pain points. Rob adds that trust plays a huge role—stakeholders may initially follow the "official" process, but only reveal their real practices after rapport is established.

Avoiding Common Pitfalls

Even with good intentions, stories can fall short when they are:

Too vague or incomplete.

Disconnected from actual business processes.

Written without acceptance criteria.

Michael stresses that implied requirements are dangerous. Developers should always strive for clearly defined acceptance criteria that leave no room for ambiguity or uncertainty.

Practical Tips for Writing Better User Stories

The hosts wrap up with actionable guidance for developers:

Speak up – Don't code vague tickets without asking questions.

Push for the "so that" – The business value matters most.

Write acceptance criteria – Define what "done" means.

Break down big stories – Smaller, testable stories are easier to validate.

Stay user-focused – Keep technical details in subtasks, not in the story.

Example:

Bad: Add a contact form.

Good: As a potential customer, I want to fill out a contact form with my name, email, and message, so that I can get in touch with the company about their services.

This richer story sparks the right questions: Which fields are required? Should multiple contact methods be supported? These clarifications lead to solutions that match real needs.

Final Thoughts

By revisiting this subject, Rob and Michael remind us that user stories are more than backlog items—they are bridges between developers and customers.

Writing better user stories keeps teams aligned, prevents rework, and ensures projects deliver meaningful results.

Implied requirements are not good requirements. Defined requirements are good requirements.

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